Pledge to the poor

All South Africans must renew their pledge to do everything in their power to create jobs and fight poverty (Houseit!) to give renewed hope to millions in the country that 2006 will be a happy and prosperous year for them as well, said President Thabo Mbeki.

"Many of our fellow citizens could not join the festivities because of the poverty which still affects so many people. These are fellow South Africans who do not have enough to eat even on normal days, who do not have proper housing, and are everyday exposed to diseases of malnutrition and poverty," Mbeki said in his New Year message on Saturday. M&G

We agree with the President’s New Year’s pledge too 2006 and wish to get the message out in as many languages as possible. To find common ground in these languages, who have resolved their habitat problems and can assist us resolve ours: German Spanish French Italian Portuguese Japanese Korean Chinese May 2006 be prosperous for all who live on planet Earth.

Rampant fires pose health risk

November December

12/29/2005 6:42:36 PM People have been urged to leave the Franschhoek area as firefighters battle a blaze that's run out of control.

In Cape Town, the Western Cape health MEC has warned residents to close their windows against a thick pall of smoke shrouding the city.

Firefighters have been hard at work all day trying to contain nine blazes in the Cape metropole and surrounding areas.

Health MEC Pierre Uys says there are concerns about people developing respiratory problems as a result of the smoke. Read More Photo: Andrew Ingram, Cape Argus

Cape fire leaves hundreds homeless December 29, 2005, 08:00 Hundreds of people have been left homeless following a fire in Ocean View in the Cape Peninsula this morning.About 100 shacks burnt down in the Site-Five informal settlement. Wayne Okkers, the South Peninsula divisional officer, says they had their hands full fighting two fires this morning. SABCNEWS

N2 Gateway under guard as allocation proceeds

Residents from the Joe Slovo community who are to be moved to the N2 Gateway Project, have become impatient and have threatened to invade the area as they believe the homes are ready for occupation.
Full Story....

Fires ravage Cape - 1 dead 250 homeless

A four-year-old child's body was found burnt beyond recognition after a shack fire in Site B, Khayelitsha, that destroyed up to 60 shacks and left 250 people homeless. Monday afternoon's blaze in Section TR was the latest in a series of shack fires at the weekend which also left hundreds of residents destitute.

Disaster Management's John Brown said they could not establish whether the child was a boy or a girl. Full Story

Another 200 Shacks razed in Cape township

Khayelistsha residents in Cape Town have once again fallen victim to negligence as a fire destroyed a section of the informal settlement, while firefighters have managed to gain control of the Blouberg fire that forced a senior's home to be evacuated.
Full Story....

Cape fires - Grim Christmas

It will be a grim Christmas for many Capetonians after raging fires burned down homes in some of the poorest and richest areas of the city on Saturday.Overnight flare-ups had occurred on the slopes of Devil's Peak, at Gordon's Bay and at Melkbos beach, the city's disaster management services spokesperson John Brown said.

Between 300 and 400 people were left homeless after a fire destroyed about 100 shacks at an informal settlement in Philippi on the Cape Flats, while by 7pm, a blaze still raging unchecked on the mountainside above upmarket Camps Bay had gutted one home and damaged nine others. Read More

Now Now - Just Now

Space.ref

In the statement Mbeki voiced serious concern about the growing housing shortage in the city and said that something must be done as soon as possible.
Read More or
Build your own green home

Fire affects all - homes burn

Cape Town - Six homes in the upmarket Cape Town suburb of Camps Bay have gone up in flames as a fire rages on the slopes of Table Mountain.

Cape Town city disaster management spokesperson, John Brown, said two of the houses had been totally gutted and the blaze was threatening more homes in the area. Read More

Lets occupy the box on Krismis

The City of Cape Town on Friday warned that would-be occupiers of the incomplete national housing project - the N2 Gateway complex - would be violating the law if they carried out their threat of occupying the units. Read More

Rasool's 'Krismis Box’ ?(

Houses ‘are paid up’

ANGRY Lentegeur residents are refusing to co-operate with the Western Cape government’s ‘Krismis Box’ plan which promises to scrap rental arrears.

“Because the Old House of Representatives didn’t do their job properly, we now sit with a housing problem that has to be solved,” Rasool said.

However, a few residents are refusing to be involved in the process.
Mr Ebrahim Jenniker, a resident, said they are calling on the government to “prove where the arrears are coming from”.

Jenniker said many of the houses, were valued at around R14 000, were bought in 1987 and through resident’s own calculations, “we have already paid our houses finished”.

“In 1993 we already paid R7 200 on our homes. We were then told that we would receive R7 500. So if you add it up, by that time our houses were finished paid,” said Jenniker.

He added that because local government did not have any records, they “can’t answer where the arrears comes from”. Read More

Graphic Detail

Langa Fire:

Housing Riots:

Heating up our health

WHO reports 150,000 deaths can be attributed to climate change. The health stresses are ultimately faced by economically marginal communities, and are expected to be hardest hit, as informal or poor housing is not insulated against the heat. Read More

Blaze leaves 1 200 homeless

Devastation: Alfredo de Carvalho, seven, stands on the burnt-out remains of his mother's mini car which was destroyed, along with their shack and all their possessions, in a blaze that levelled 450 shacks in the Kosovo informal settlement in Philippi. Photo: Alan Taylor, Cape Times

A fire has destroyed 450 shacks in the Kosovo informal settlement in Philippi - leaving more than a thousand people homeless. Supplemental with an average of 4 residents per shack this figure is probably closer to 1,800 people displaced by this fire. Full Story....

Vrygrond residents up in arms over poor housing

The stand-off between the City of the Cape and the Vrygrond residents showed no sign of ending yesterday as 150 residents gathered at the Overcome settlement near Sea winds to demand houses, water, sanitation and electricity. Cape Times

2000 shack fires in '05

A fire destroyed more than 100 shacks and displaced hundreds of people in the Kosovo informal settlement in Phillippi outside of Cape Town on Saturday afternoon, Cape Town emergency services said. Mail & Guardian

"About 100 shacks were destroyed and 600 people displaced. No-one was killed in the fire."

Officials said this week that more than a hundred people had died in nearly two-thousand shack fires in Cape Town this year. - Sapa

Ready for the cannabis effect?

Refreshing: Drink it; Build It!

R1.7bn worth of provincial housing halted

THE Department of Housing has revealed that problems related to administrative delays, land invasions and fraud have resulted in provincial housing projects to the tune of R1.7-billion being blocked.

In response to a parliamentary question, Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s department revealed that more than 469 projects were blocked countrywide at the beginning of October.

Housing spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya said the delays and blockages were due to administrative delays, inflation rendering original tenders insufficient, land invasions and/or fraud.

She said money intended for blocked projects, has been spent elsewhere. Build Your Own Home.

...The Housing Department could not provide the Sunday Times with the exact number of houses that had not been built due to blocked projects. e.g: Innovator seeks to build hemp homes - (Sunday Times)

James Masango, a DA MP and member of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on housing, said in Mpumalanga there were abandoned foundations for government housing projects that had been built in 2000 and were now overgrown with grass. Sunday Times

New Urbanists

What is the New Urbanism? Emily Talen (Urban Studies 36, 8 [1999]: 1361) describes it as an “umbrella term” for an increasingly popular movement among planners that encompasses “neotraditional development” and “traditional neighborhood design.”

New Urbanists stress the importance of the built environment in fostering community but emphasize that there must be a change in mindset, design, and practice concerning how communities are physically constructed to overcome current civic deficits, loss of social -capital, and a diminished sense of community. They argue that the organization of physical space is intimately related to the way in which persons are understood both as individuals and as social beings.

New Urbanists claim that traditional towns and urban neighborhoods are more conducive to developing community and provide more life choices than contemporary suburban living. Read More

Who will be queen of the Cape?

In 2000, Cape Town voter turnout reached 52%, above the 48% nationally, according to election statistics, but service delivery bottlenecks, particularly over housing and employment, may trigger voter disinterest and apathy. Read More

Court sanctions Cape's Du Noon evictions

Families from a fire-ravaged area in Cape Town, who moved into another area in protest against the government's alleged failure to house them, will soon be evicted. Full Story....

Build a better habitat for all

The council receives a national housing grant of about R325-million a year, which can build an average of 7 750 housing units a year.

By building your house from this proven green-construction technology ,

We Can deliver 21 670 fire proof, evironmentally friendly homes and sustainable rural agrarian empowerment.

That is THREE times the amount of homes, for the same R325-million, while channeling money to the rural areas which would slow rural to urban migration easing the burden on urban housing.

This green-technology is in line with Kyoto protocols and acts as a buffer to environmental damage by earning carbon credits.

...The existing backlog of 260 000 units, with about 16 000 new families arriving in the city annually... Read More

Don't flush away a precious resource

Waterborne sanitation is a luxury destined to be replaced by a more environmentally-friendly alternative. The 'e-loo' might just be a viable solution. Read more http://www.eloo.co.za/

Closed Housing Imbizio

President Thabo Mbeki heard suggestions (eg. Build your own home) from the City of Cape Town on Wednesday on how central government could help accelerate housing delivery so that the metropolis eradicated slums by 2014.

She mentioned frequent fires in informal settlements as a serious setback to the challenge of providing homes for all. “The cost in human lives and disruption cannot be calculated.”

Mfeketo said the leadership of the city would be the first to acknowledge and apologise if they did something wrong as it sought to transform the city and change mindsets.

The media were unable to hear Mbeki’s input and were requested to leave the hall immediately after Mfeketo’s input.

Founder member Daphne Jansen said the government was not sticking to its own batho pele (people first) principles by refusing the group entry.

“If the president is saying women must find their voices and be self-reliant, this is not the way. Read More

'Green & Black' Construction & Development

The Western Cape government launched four hard-hitting policy documents yesterday that are designed to ensure that future development in the province does not damage the natural environment by developers out to make a quick buck.

The documents, which focus on resorts, golf estates and putting a brake on urban sprawl, say development in the province must in future be both: Eg. Build your own home

"green and black" - environmentally sustainable and empowering to the black community... [join in and discuss this article here: IA EnviroSust ]

Tasneem Essop, MEC for environment, planning and economic development, said yesterday if the province did not address "the way we develop, we are going to push the province into further crisis".



Housing Sustainable Development

Considering the facts regarding the previous environment, planning and economic development minister and former premier shown here in System Failure: IA JAM it is clear all development needs to be beyond reproach. All documents and spending should be publicly available.

Shack Attack turned Golf

Paris - Sydney - Cape Town

OUR finance minister recently claimed that if the inequalities between rich and poor in Cape Town weren’t rapidly addressed, this seemingly laid-back city could see the kind of social upheaval that Paris has been experiencing from marginalised minorities. The difference between these two cities, though, is crucial:

Here the marginalised are in a massive majority. Business Day

Housing list project fails to get off ground

The government's pilot project which aims to formulate a single housing waiting list for Cape Town failed because of poor communication and shoddy planning, organisers of the three-day campaign said. Full Story....

Chaos as fires ravage Cape leaving 4 dead 1,248 homeless

Raging: A couple watch as flames engulf Signal Hill high above the city centre in Cape Town, where a huge fire came dangerously close to homes near Bo-Kaap. Full story Photo: Andrew Ingram, Cape Times

Fires continued to ravage the Western Cape over the weekend with blazes claiming another life and forcing the closure of the Huguenot Tunnel. Fires around Table Mountain also kept city firefighters battling flames for most of the weekend.

The fatal fire occurred early on Sunday morning when a person was killed as 17 shacks burnt in Mbewana, Nyanga...

On Thursday, three people died in an isolated shack fire in Makaza, Khayelitsha, just two days after 295 shacks burnt down in Site B, leaving 1 100 people homeless... Read More...

Truth Tripping

All truth passes through three stages:

First, it is ridiculed;

Second, it is violently opposed;

and Third, it is accepted as self-evident. - Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

"First they ignore you Then laugh at you and hate you,
Then they fight you
Then you win.

When the truth dies very bad things happen They're being heartless again
I know its gone and there's going to be violence..." - Robbie Williams

Build your own home

Pillar to Post

A hundred families living under dire conditions in De Doorns' informal settlement in Cape Town have been moved to an area serviced with water and sanitation as part of the government's 16 days of activism. Full Story....

Raging fires kill three in Western Cape

The Western Cape is on red alert amid dry and windy weather conditions as firefighters battle to bring fires in Khayelitsha and the Oudekraal area under control. Full Story....

Help from above: A helicopter empties a load of sea water over a fire near Kommetjie in Cape Town. Western Cape firefighters are bracing for more blazes as a howling south-easter buffets the Peninsula with temperatures soaring at 27°C. Full story Photo: Brenton Geach, Cape Argus

Red alert as fires rage

The Western Cape is on a red alert for fires today, in fear of a repeat of yesterday's string of blazes that destroyed a factory and a home. www.capetimes.co.za

Row as Gov reopens housing list

Slammed by opposition parties as a blatant election ploy, the national government has invited people in the housing queue in the Western Cape to complete new registration forms to help draw up a single housing waiting list for Cape Town. www.capetimes.co.za

Richard Dyantyi, the WC housing and local government minister, who was expected to explain why there are no houses, failed to pitch up.

http://www.sabcnews.com

There has been mixed emotions from 1 000 families who received empty plots and communal toilets at De Doorns in the Hex River Valley in the Western Cape.

Richard Dyantyi, the Western Cape housing and local government minister, who was expected to explain why there are no houses, failed to pitch up. Some families who have been on the housing list for over 10 years, have expressed dissatisfaction with the empty plots, while others who lived in a nearby informal settlement have shed tears of joy in an expression of happiness.

Thobeka Madikane (38), a local resident, says she has spent her entire life in a shack having to share a toilet with hundreds of her neighbours in a river bed. With tears in her eyes and gulping for breath, she says her plot of land although almost bare, and her toilet that she has to share with four other families is a dream come true. Manny Sotomi, the chief director for housing and planning in the province, says handing over vacant plots, earmarked for development is not ideal but the best solution to the housing crisis.

Fire costs! Mayor has 'let finances spin out of control'

Cape Town city councillors have criticised Mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo for losing a grip on the city's finances, after the capital budget for next year was drastically reduced due to "unforeseen expenditure". Full Story....

Fire; Rebuilding; Corruption.

Razed shacks rebuilt as embers still smoulder 2005-12-08 10:15:01 Khayelitsha residents, left homeless by a fire that destroyed hundreds of shacks, have taken matters into their own hands and have begun rebuilding immediately. Full Story....

City project tender controversy continues 2005-12-08 09:12:59 Businessman Phillip Dexter is set to sue for intellectual theft - he alleges that the consultant the city council awarded a R6-million contract to establish a jewellery centre, bypassing normal tender procedures, stole the idea from him. Full Story....

Corrupt municipalities named

... almost the same number were without sanitation, and the housing backlog stood at ... Natal, Mbombela in Mpumalanga, and in the Western Cape also exemplified ...

We're not moving, say 400 school squatters

More than 400 backyard dwellers has taken up residence at the old Florida primary school in Ravensmead and are refusing to move. Full Story....

Khayelitsha fire leaves 1 100 people homeless

Hundreds of shacks have been destroyed by a fire in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, and while some residents looked on in horror others took the opportunity to loot nearby spaza shops. Full Story....

Swift action: A gas cylinder explodes as residents scramble to salvage their belongings from the fire. Photo: Andrew Ingram, Cape Times

www.sabcnews.com
More than 800 people have been left destitute following shack fires in Khayelitsha in the Cape Peninsula. Most of the residents were at work when the fire started and have lost most of their possessions. Residents are blaming the city council for their slow housing delivery.

Last January, 1 500 shacks were razed in the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa. Last month, the same area experienced three other devastating fires.

Over the past weekend, 450 shacks were destroyed, leaving more than 2 000 people homeless in Du Noon, an informal settlement near Table View.

Victims of today's fire are collecting whatever they can salvage and preparing to erect new shacks. Cyprian Cairncross, a divisional commander for the Cape Town fire services, says the cause of the fire is still unknown but will be investigated. No fatalities were reported.

City admits Gateway cash Crunch

After a week of denialism...

With a simple one-word "yes" response to questions tabeled by DA Councillor Neil Ross about N2 Gateway Funding, the city has admitted that the housing project is suffering from a short term financial hitches...

Published in the Cape Times Pg2.

Page 1 Carries an article on City Management questionable tender deals.

Sloppy officials deserve revolt

This vetgat government of corrupt and untrustworthy politicians (Eastern Cape region and Bloemfontein city council, among the very ready examples), with their corruption inviting schemes such as BEE (black elite enrichment), had it coming a long while ago. ..

RDP 'houses' a crying shame

The townships themselves, spawns of a reprehensible separatist scheme, were nevertheless also much better than the millions of squalid squatter camps which have been rapidly mushrooming in the past 11 years of "democracy".

These are harsh, unpalatable facts and I'm fully aware I'm laying myself open to vicious reactionary attacks from some in the vetgat league. ..

Jon Qwelane's column is published each week on News24, courtesy of Jon Qwelane and the editor of Sunday Sun, which originally carried the article.

What is... Required?

High Court slams Cape Unicity's housing policy

The Cape High Court has severely criticised the Cape Town Unicity's housing policy during a landmark judgment over a case involving Valhalla Park residents. Read more ...

Western Cape fires raze 750 shacks

Thousands are going to spend the night with no roofs over their heads.

A man has died and 750 shacks and 2 houses have been destroyed as fires ravaged the Doornbacht informal settlement and a section of the Piketberg in the Western Cape. Full Story....

Cape rivers ‘used as toilets’

Health24.com - Cape Town, South Africa... Dr Barnes says informal housing and lack of sanitation alongside riverbeds are the ... obstacles, in general, pose high health risks to the Western Cape's rivers ...

Why the habitat jam - fire?

Comment by: Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director, UN Habitat, Kenya

You are quite right that the problem of slums will not be solved by research alone.

However, I am informed that as of last Kenya had the second highest number of registrants participating in the Habitat Jam. The fact that thousands have been willing to patiently wait in line sometimes for hours in order to be able to contribute to this debate has been a profoundly moving experience for me.

The fact that the debate on slums has moved from the academic world to streets of cities such as Nairobi, Dakar, Cape Town and Mumbai, Rio, Lima and Manilla is in and of itself a powefull signal to world leaders on the need for concerted action.

Devastation: Siyaongwana Nokilunga of Doornbach sits on a stool at the spot where her shack formerly stood. Full Story Photo: Andrew Ingram Cape Times

Fires leave 1 dead 4 injured & more than a thousand homeless

Four fires have brought devastation to the lives of hundreds of people in Cape Town. Full Story....

Residents of Doornbach near Milnerton in Cape Town watch as a helicopter tries to douse the fire raging in the informal settlement. Photo: Michael Pinyana, Sunday Argus

SABC News

Poor service delivery haunts Eastern Cape

Read More Accusations of poor service delivery continue to dog Eastern Cape municipalities. Residents of Masakhane township at Jamestown are threatening to make this rural town ungovernable if their demand to get employment in a local housing project is not met.

Please be Patient - we're on fire

CSIR fights fire with OSS: The CSIR Satellite Applications Centre's mapping technology, built on open source software, tells users where fires are breaking out across South Africa in near real-time.

Advanced Fire Information Service: Please be patient this site - is slow.

High participation rate of women is grassroots Habitat Jamm'in

The Huairou Commission has brought over 4,000 grassroots women, from more than 25 countries into Habitat JAM activities. Many of our organizations held meetings prior to JAM, and they chose delegates to represent them at the JAM. Some examples: • In Montevideo, Uruguay, Cotidiano Mujer brought together 30 women from a marginalized urban neighborhoods to meet and sit together at the computers, all on Habitat JAM. The women were assisted by a facilitator and translator/typists. • In Russia, Information Center of the Independent Women's Forum (ICIWF) pulled together 17 community groups who want to share their successes in learning how to run a civil society by partnering with local government. • In India, Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) put together an Information Fair and other actitivies—attracting over 3,000 women from disaster plagued states, and women working with local government, and on water and sanitation—to gather their ideas for the JAM. See postings by Smita Sawant for updates! • In Cameroon, 380 women of the Ntankah Village Women Common Initiative Group have collected their thoughts on urban development. These were then delivered to the JAM by a select group of leaders whohave now had their first international experience. They rented an entire Internet cafe and filled it with their women! • In Canada, Women in Cities International, translated and circulated all Habitat JAM materials to thousands of women from French speaking women's groups networks. • In Peru, 50 women met to hold a local peer exchange, sharing their practices: community banks, ecological parks, earthquake resistant housing construction. Then, a smaller group of women went to an Internet cafe, in their slum neighborhood, and have been participatin gin JAM, to bring in the results of their meeting.

In Cape Town, 1,800 women ran trying to save their homes from a runaway fire, a shortage of water and planning led to 1 death and 4 serious burns.

Habitat JAM… what are people talking about?

JAMMERS are from all around the Globe December 1, 2005

December 1, 2005
The Habitat JAM is in full swing and JAMMERS are active across the world, leading discussions and exploring controversial, stimulating topics in each forum. After eight hours of JAMMING, Humanity: the Future of Our Cities leads the way as the most popular forum, with 765 posts. Hot topics in this forum include education and the critical role it plays in the evolution of our cities, how population mobility/migration influences cities and the important role of a city’s population in solving the issues. Environmental Sustainability in Our Cities is the second most-popular forum at this stage, with Improving the Lives of Slum Dwellers in third place.

Fresh doubts over Gateway Project funds

Our 'leaders' are taking us to a dangerous place - and fast

The World is Watching

>Africa is watching!

Defining Housing Rights

While the majority of the world’s population lives in some form of dwelling, roughly one-half of the world’s population does not enjoy the full spectrum of entitlements necessary for housing to be considered adequate. According to international human rights law, in order for housing to be adequate it must provide more than just four walls and a roof over one’s head; it must, at a minimum, include the following elements:

Security of Tenure, Availability of Services, Affordability, Habitability, Accessibility, Location & Culturally Adequate.

For more see: http://www.cohre.org/hrframe.htm

Making a killing

Tapping electricity illegally from Eskom power lines is big business in townships across the country.

Government delivery a ticking timebomb

[South Africa] The government's inability to provide basic services such as water, electricity and sanitation for poverty-stricken South Africans is threatening to boil over as the municipal elections draw closer. Edwin Naidu reports... Full Story...

Questionable Commitment

Cape Government housing decided that this is not an “open” Summit and therefore attendance will be by invitation and nomination only.

Beyond the Brick Human Settlement Summit 2005

Outcome Expectations: What kind of long-term solutions work on "invitation" only?

Fire razes Joe Slovo shacks

Residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement in the Western Cape have once again become the victims of a blazing fire, which has destroyed 60 Shacks, leaving 150 destitute. Full Story....

Rasool urges drastic action on housing

From A select few who attened the BEYOND THE BRICK Conference which was by invite only.
Urgency: Ebrahim Rasool

Before hostilities and suspicion around housing delivery in the Western Cape became entrenched, hard decisions needed to be taken about how this massive challenge should be tackled, premier Ebrahim Rasool has warned. Full Story....

Photo: Cape Argus

Red Ants & Bullets in Hillbrow housing

Persuasive argument: Policemen fire rubber bullets at occupants of the Crest Hill building in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, who refused to vacate the unsafe building during an eviction operation before dawn on Friday. The police arrested 135 illegal immigrants. (Werner Beukes, Sapa)

http://www.mg.co.za/

Joe Slovo residents build homes in the ashes

The residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement outside Cape Town have returned to the site of this week's devastating fire to rebuild their homes amid the ashes and ruins. Full Story....

How to build a cannabis home.

Demonstrated out side the Department of Housing

1. Plant a cannabis seed. Water and allow the plant to grow and produce seed. Plant and water these seeds. Your goal is to grow enough to build a house, you will need about 1 acre to build a 5 roomed home.
   
   Tyala imbewu ntsangu (ye-cannabis). Nkcenkceshela imbewu uze uyinike ithuba lokuba ikhule ide ikhuphe eyayo imbewu. Uyothi ke uyityale nalembewu uyinkcenkceshele njalo. Injongo yakho kukukhulisa izityalo ezothi zonele ekwakheni indlu, uyakudinga i-acre (malunga nentsimi) enye ukuze wakhe indlu enamagumbi amahlanu.
   
   
2. Consider the many relevant points presented in the guidelines of Build your house step-by-step.
   
   Qwalasela yonke imigaqo oyibekelweyo kwincwadana i-Build Your House Step By Step.
   
   
   
   Download book from: InternAfrica
   
3. Start planning where your house will stand. Consider everything about the environment you’ll be building in, like winter and summer sunshine, wind and rain – you don’t want to build on a floodplain, or your house will wash away. Be sure to plan all your water and waste requirements.
   
   Ceba indawo ozokwakha kuyo indlu yakho. Qwalasela yonke into ngomhlaba lo uzokwakha kuwo indlu yakho, izinto ezinje ngemimoya, ilanga, neemvula zehlobo nobusika, akekho umntu ofuna ukwakha indlu yakhe emgxobhozweni okanye apho iyothi ibe lilifa lezikhukhula khona. Uqiniseke ukuba unamanzi akulungeleyo ukwenza oku.
   
   
4. Cut the grown cannabis plants down and leave in the field to rhett for a week. The morning dew and natural rotting process will loosen the fibers from the plant.
   
   a. Process the plant matter by cutting leaves and branches off, then hit small bundles the length of the plant over and upturned rake.
   b. The long fiber parts that remain in your hand are good for weaving rugs and making various other items your skills can accomplish.
   c. The seed can be gathered for more housing.
   d. Gather the small woody bits (the hurd) that have fallen, this waste is what will be used in the construction material.
   
   Sika / sarha izityalo uzibeke egadini ixesha elingangeveki ukuze zibole. Umbethe wasekuseni nezinye izinto zendalo ezibolisayo ziya kuyikhulula I-fibre ezityalweni.
   
   a. Yikhawulezise ngohlukanisa intonga zezityalo namagqabi, uhlale uyiharika rhoqo.
   b. Intonga ezi zinothi zincede kwezinye izinto ezifana nokwenza ingubo nezinye izinto onothi uzibonele zona ngokolwazi lwakho.
   c. Imbewu inokuqokelelwe ukwakha ezinye izindlu.
   d. Qokelela imithana ethe yaziwela njengokuba uzoyisebenzisa xa usakha indlu yakho.
   
   
5. Wash the hurd, dry it, then wash it again. Be careful not to allow the matter to rot or decay during this process, by turning, airing and allowing the African sun to dry the hurd properly. Now combine in proportions 10:2:3:3 combine the cannabis/ntsangu/dagga Hurd(10), washed river sand 0.5mm(2), hydraulic lime(3) and water(3) to make the mulch (This process may need tweaking depending on your geographic location, humidity, rainfall etc)
   
   Hlamba ingqokelela yakho, uyomise, uphinde uyihlambe.Ulumkele ukuba lengqokelela ibole kwelithuba, yiguquguqule, uyivumele ibethwe ngumoya uvumele nelanga lase Afrika liyomise lengqokelela. Dibanisa ngokwalo mgaqo 10:2:3:3, dibanisa ke lemvuno yakho yomgquba wentsangu (10) kunye nesanti yasemlanjeni 0.5mm(2), ikalika (3) kunye namanzi (3) ukwenza udaka (Nale into ke iyokuthi ixhomekeke kwindawo leyo ukuyo nemvula zakhona njalo-njalo).
   
   
6. Now build your house! Ngoku ke yakha indlu yakho!
   
   
7. Teach others. Fundisa abanye.
   
   
   

· You can use this “dagga-cement” for making bricks, shutter casting or the proven “pole-and-dagga” method. This last method allows for a sturdy, warm, fireproof and water proof home – built with pride and intuitive engineering, not a ‘uniform box’.

Be sure to consider all aspects of your house design and structural requirements. Although the cannabis-cement will become stronger than steel in time, it is not advised to build over 2 floors high without considering structural implications. With planning this cement can be used to build up to 4 floors high.

The cannabis-cement will dry over a period of a month (depending on the weather). At this point you will be able to add the roof. Seal your home’s walls with lime; lime external walls annually.

Decorate your house with masonry to make it unique, and paint with coloured lime as per custom.

Always PLANT A TREE in a place that will provide shade, to commemorate this accomplishment.

Council will plant trees if citizens care for them. Call (021) 689-8938 http://www.trees.org.za/

Assist your family, friends or neighbors with your experience and expertise. Share information and technique; you can uplift yourself and your community.

Tell your friends and colleagues about the Habitat JAM!

http://www.habitatjam.com/

Housing Sustainable Development

RDP Houses sold for R300

INTERVENTION from the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality in the illegal sale of RDP houses has yielded no results, as people continue to engage in these transactions.... more

Blessed Katiyo Richard Dyantyi, the Western Cape local government and housing minister, has called for a sustainable human settlement summit to be held. The aim is to alleviate the housing crisis in the province.

http://www.capegateway.gov.za/eng/your_gov/325

The summit, bringing together a number of stakeholders, among them communities, business construction sector companies, academics, housing practitioners and government representatives, will be held to discuss housing issues in the province.“We are going to be demonstrating pilot projects that have important key features for us some supported by employers others driven by government itself others cross subsidized,” said Dyantyi.

Tell your friends and colleagues about the Habitat JAM!
http://www.habitatjam.com/

The province has a serious housing backlog and the minister hopes discussions at the summit will help ease problems in housing administration. Some of the problems include industrialists who refused to have new housing communities in their vicinities. The minister was optimistic that such red-tape will be removed.

http://www.sabcnews.com/economy/business/0,2172,116860,00.html

About 35 illegal squatters in the Nkqubela settlement of Robertson insist on remaining underneath a 66kV power line although they are putting their lives at risk and are frustrating Eskom, its 8 000 customers and the municipality.
http://capetimes.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=271&fArticleId=3008350

R53m meant for Cape public transport unspent

The chairperson of the standing committee on finance and economic development, Garth Strachan, has lashed out at the department of transport and public works for poor management of its budget - with almost R100-million unspent in the last financial year. Full Story....

Disappointed Min delivery

Lindiwe Sisulu, the minister of housing, has promised drastic changes in the R3 billion housing N2 project near Cape Town, which planned to have 22 000 units built by next year.

To date, only 240 houses have been built.

The project which was hailed as one of the most innovative housing projects has run into serious difficulties, and shack dwellers at the Joe Slovo informal settlement say there has been no consultation from government about who will be housed there.

There has also been reports that construction is behind schedule and contractors have not been paid and scaling down to cut costs.

Housing anger as shacks burn

As fire-weary residents of Joe Slovo fled in anger from the 16th blaze to hit the informal settlement this year, rendering another 600 homeless, the DA charged that there may not be enough money to house them. [Full Story...]

Frantic endeavour: Residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement yesterday scramble to rescue their possessions as a wall of flame advances. Photo: Alan Taylor

Joe Slovo shacks hit by another blaze

Some 50 shacks are reportedly on fire in the vicinity of the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Langa, Cape Town. Read more ...

Housing protest in PE continues

A handful of residents of Kleinskool in Port Elizabeth were still burning tyres in the streets by 9am this morning, in protest over alleged poor service delivery, Eastern Cape police said. Read more ...

Residents in court as CTCHC homes catch fire

While residents were doing battle in a packed Cape High Court courtroom over their refusal to pay for their homes, firefighters were battling to save some of the houses. A'eysha Kassiem investigates...

Partly funded by the City of Cape Town and the National Housing Finance Corporation, the Cape Town Community Housing Company (CTCHC) has taken legal action against the residents, as well as community leader, David Valentine, over the outstanding payments.

The embattled CTCHC has previously been in the line of fire for alleged construction defects in other low-cost housing developments. The case was postponed to February 16 after residents asked the court for more time to establish legal representation."I was at the high court when I got the call from neighbours that the house was on fire," said Gillian Davids.

Full Story....

Wave of land occupations in Lavender Hill

Since the start of November there have been a wave of land occupations in the area of Lavender Hill. First, on the weekend of the 4th of November about 40 families occupied land in Hillview, forming a new settlement called Chinatown. The occupation started on Friday night and by the time that the Council came to look on Monday morning most of the shacks had been completed - meaning that the Council would have to start eviction proceedings if they want the people off their land. And as the Valhalla Park case (Rudolf v. City of Cape Town) proves, the courts tend to side with those who have nowhere else to go when they take state land.

The land occupation movement intensified on Saturday the 12th as some thirty families moved onto land between St Montague Village and Rondevlei Nature Reserve. In response, Council Law Enforcement came to smash their still-incomplete shacks, supported by the City Police. A battle started when the City Police attacked a mentally ill man who was walking around and confronting the cops. As people tried to protect the man the City Police struck, firing rubber bullets and attacking with batons - a 10 year old boy, Quintin, was hit on the head with a baton, requiring 5 stitches. Three men were arrested on charges of public violence, only to be released (case dismissed) on Monday morning.

After Saturday's battle, the Law Enforcement retreated, and people carried on building. By Tuesday morning the land was filling up, with more than 400 families having erected shacks for themselves. These are families coming out of backyards in St Montague Village, Hillview, Lavender Hill and surrounding areas, where they have to pay high rents (one lady quoted R 700 a month) and face arbitrary eviction from landlords. Now they are making space for their lives on this land in St Montague Village, in a settlement that thus far has no name. "Skrik vir niks" ("Scared of nothing") suggested one activist, "Laaste uitvlug" (Last respite) suggested another. Whatever the name, it seems that new settlement is here to stay - the people on the land have clearly settled there for good!

Tomorow they will join the Day of Action for Housing which is also taking place in Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Crossroads and Hanover Park. Another front in the battle for decent housing for all has been opened!

Cape's building industry delayed by shortages

The construction boom in the Western Cape is being held up as contractors and builders now have to import everything from bricks and cement to bitumen from other provinces, writes Igsaan Salie. Full Story....

Poverty remains an issue in the Mother City

Cape Town's rising levels of crime and high unemployment rate could easily cause the city to erupt into mayhem similar to that experienced in the French city of Paris, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has warned. Full Story....

No Secret Housing Problem

It is no secret that residents in less affluent areas are unhappy by the slow pace of service delivery.

From Delmas in Gauteng to the Cape Flats in the Western Cape, townships have erupted in violence as residents protest against their local councils over issues such as the provision of potable water, electricity, roads and affordable housing.

In some instances disgruntled residents have threatened that if these services are not speedily provided, they will stay away from the coming local government elections as a sign of protest. However, nothing could be more foolhardy...

http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=225&fArticleId=2999216

Twin miracle birth

Wonder birth: Firefighters give the rescued 'miracle' twins oxygen after they were born during a shack fire in Zamimpilo informal settlement, near Riverlea in western Johannesburg. Full story Photo: Malcolm Midgley, The Star

Police fire teargas at housing protesters

Western Cape police have fired teargas at a group of about 1 000 Old Crossroads residents who marched to their local council offices to protest against a new housing development in the area. Full Story....

Cape protests housing & service delivery

Communities around the Cape Penisula have protested against a lack of service delivery and housing. The marches, which were held in three areas, had varying turnouts. The first memorandum was handed over to the Steenberg Municipality by a group of coloured protesters who said they had been neglected and that preference had been given to blacks.

In Mandela Park in Khayelitsha, protetsters complained about the eviction of people who failed to pay their bonds. Meanwhile, in Crossroads, protestors stoned the councillor's house, claiming they are not involved in the decision-making on matters relating to the development of the area.

http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/general/0,2172,116404,00.html

Three children killed in shack blaze

A Wendy house fire on Freedom Farm, off Modderdam Road in Belhar, outside Cape Town, has left three children dead and one woman slightly hurt. Full Story....

Unbearable grief: Sharon Onkruid cries uncontrollably as she holds her toddler Dylan after she lost three of her five young children in a shack fire. Full story Photo: Enver Essop, Cape Times

Cape Town Day of Action for Housing

CAPE TOWN, On the 16th of November 2005, communities across Cape Town took action to demand decent houses for all, now!

This year, the Western Cape failed to spend R 76 million of its housing budget. 350 000 families in the province don’t have houses, and only 11 000 houses were built in the whole of the Western Cape last year. Meanwhile, in Cape Town alone, 260 000 families wait for houses and that number grows by 20 000 a year. Shack communities are told they can’t get electricity and get only a few toilets and water because they are ‘temporary’ even if they’ve been living in the same place for years. Meanwhile the government is selling its land to private developers for rich people’s houses, and then turning to the poor and saying there is no land!

Actions included a marches of 400 people each in Lavender Hill and Crossroads (Boys Town) [audio report] with smaller actions in Hanover Park, Khayelitsha and Gugulethu. Memorandums were handed over the officials from the Cape Town City Council (and in Hanover Park the local councillor was given a symbolic funeral) and action was demanded within 7 days, else more mass action will follow!

Participating organisations included Hanover Park Anti-Eviction Campaign (AEC), Hillview Housing Forum, Inthatho Nxaxheba (Crossroads, Boys Town), Intshukumo Yabantu (Gugulethu), Mandela Park AEC, Newfields AEC, QQ section area committee, St Montague Village Women's Hope for the Nation, United Homeless People's Development Association (Cuban Heights) and Vrygrond Action Committee.

http://southafrica.indymedia.org/

House prices the cause of debt

Debt 'caused by house prices' Economists believe that the bulk of the increase in household debt is due to increased borrowing for housing, as a result of the rising house prices.

Shack blaze leaves 100 families with nothing

Children have been left without food and many HIV-positive residents have lost their antiretroviral medication, after yet another fire swept through Joe Slovo Park informal settlement in the Western Cape. Full Story....

Rubber Bullets Housing Protests

Police used rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of disgruntled Sydenham residents, and arrested 45 of them for marching illegally on Monday, Durban police said. Angry residents marched on the mayor's office to hand over a memorandum that cited dissatisfaction over housing and the alleged removal of basic services from shack dwellers.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national&articleid=256520

Police brutally supress peaceful housing demonstration

At noon today at the Foreman Road settlement in Clare Estate, Durban, police attacked a peaceful demonstration of settlement dwellers from around the muncipality. Dozens have been arrested. As of 2:30pm, police had surrounded the Foreman Road settlement and blocked both exits. No one is being allowed in or out. Shots have been heard, and there are reports that anyone attempting to leave the settlement is being fired upon. Eyewitness reports suggest many injuries due to rubber bullets.

The elected committee of Abahlali base Mjondolo, a shack dwellers movement with 16 affiliated settlements, followed due procedure in attempting to gain permission for the march. The city council, however, illegally denied the application (see letter below from the Freedom of Expression Institute for details). At 11am, the majority of the 3000-strong crowd decided to march to the nearby Asherville sports field. This was a route recommended by the Mayor’s office at a meeting on Friday, 11 November, in the Mayor’s presence.

Initially, the march proceeded peacefully up Loon Road. At the top of the road, marchers were met by a police cordon at the intersection of Loon Road and Locksley Road. At least 2000 people were up against the police barrier. Witnesses did not observe the mandatory five-minute warning being given before police charged the crowd with riot shields, backed up by riot trucks, plucking individuals at random for arrest. The crowd fled back down Loon Road, towards Foreman Road settlement.

Police officers chased the marchers into the Foreman Road settlement, firing rubber bullets, charging with batons, and arresting protesters in the process. Witnesses saw cameras, phones and money taken from protestors by the police. Five people were arrested at the front line and approximately 10-15 later minutes at least one more van left the scene, filled with arrested protestors; as of 2pm, a total of 13 people were detained at Sydenham Police Station, though witnesses have seen more police vans filled with people from informal settlements. It is possible that they are being held at other police stations.

One of the first arrestees was System Cele, a 19 year-old elected committee member from nearby Kennedy Road settlement, attending the march with her young baby. She was seen in good health as she was arrested and marched to a police van. She reported that police pushed her around, demanding that she reveal S’bu Zikode as the person making people march. When she said that there were people marching all over the world, and that S’bu could not be inciting them all, they assaulted her, and in the process broke her teeth on the pavement, necessitating dental treatment. As Ms. Cele pointed out, S’bu and other leadership had told those gathered that the march would be illegal, and had advised that there would be consequences, but no one could have foreseen the ferocity of the police response.

The quarantine of the Foreman Road settlement continues. At one point, an effigy of Mayor Mlaba was burned in front of the police, giving off black, oily smoke.

The March on Mayor Mlaba was organised by the Foreman Road Development Committee to demand land and housing in the city and to protest against forced removals and the ongoing removal of basic services from shack settlements. It was decided to march under the slogan of No Land, No House, No Vote. On Wednesday, 9 November more than 5 000 people attended a mass rally in support of the march in the Foreman Road settlement.

Media coverage of on-going events at Foreman Road is urgently needed; please contact those listed below for comment. Bail funds are also needed; contact Fazel Khan (084 577 8627) for details. Finally, please email City Manager Mike Sutcliffe michael@demarcation.org.za to protest the brutal suppression of today's march.

For print quality photos, go to Indymedia South Africa at one, two and three or contact Raj Patel patel@ukzn.ac.za or Richard Ballard ballardr@ukzn.ac.za 083 789 7108

For comment please contact:
Mnikelo Ndabankulu, Foreman Road Development Committee, 07356565241
Lungisani Jama, Foreman Road Development Committee, 0822595443
Nonhlanla Mzobe, Kennedy Road Development Committee, 0826892606
Angelina Mosiea, Quarry Road Development Committee, 0762921833
S'bu Zikode, Chair, Abahlali base Mjondolo, 0835470474
Simon Delany, Freedom of Expression Institute, 0833970057
Raj Patel, Centre for Civil Society, UKZN, 0824724937
Fazel Khan, Social Policy Programme, UKZN, 0845778627

Background info here. Another eyewitness account from Alan Murphy. And an update.

Need more land for housing

The multi-million-rand N2 Gateway housing project outside Cape Town needs more land to meet the growing demand for formal housing to replace shacks, Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has confirmed. Full Story....

Joe Slovo fire

Police suspect foul play in November 13, 2005, 18:13
Police are investigating a case of arson after 30 shacks were reduced to ashes at the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Johannesburg last night. The fire allegedly started when a tuck shop was set alight. One person has been arrested. Read more ...

Hundreds of homes gutted by Stellenbosch fire

Hostel buildings and shacks have been gutted by a fire in Stellenbosch's Khayamandi settlement, while firefighters are combating another fire in the mountainous region on the Cape south coast. Full Story....

Alex residents 'sick and tired' of shack life

Unhappy Alexandra residents will embark on a march to the Gauteng premier's offices this week to seek his intervention on the lack of delivery from the township's refurbishment programme.

The residents will also hand over a memorandum to MEC for Housing Nomvula Mokonyane on Wednesday before heading to Mbhazima Shilowa's office.

Most of the township's population of more than 300 000 are still staying in shacks with no proper sanitation facilities, despite the launch of the R1,3-billion Alexandra Renewal Programme (ARP) four years ago.

'Children are dying because of the unhygienic environment that they are brought up in'When it was launched by President Thabo Mbeki in 2001 - as one of eight national urban-renewal initiatives - the ARP promised to give the township a complete revamp, and residents' hopes for a better life were raised...

http://iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20051107084809865C376349

Generosity the Corr of Imizamo Yethu project

Raising the R32 000 required to be a volunteer for the Niall Mellon Township Challenge, Gavin Bonnar hosted a dinner and an auction and raised R821 100 - but then again he is married to Sharon Corr, the violinist of The Corrs, so his connections are good. Full Story....

Homeless

The premier insists fire breaks work, just the same as he did in 2003, with the Jo Slovo shack fires.

This year, this fire again. The costs of fire are serious, more so than political promises.

Homeless: Twelve-year-old Nolusindiso Vena carries blankets through the remains of shacks gutted by a devastating fire in Khayelitsha, near Cape Town. Photo: Lulama Zenzile, Cape Times Full Story....

Housing delivery strategy an 'expensive gamble'

Unemployment-induced poverty was causing many government housing beneficiaries to move back into shacks, a Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) report revealed on Tuesday.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=255383&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/

Housing ministry addresses capacity problems

Lindiwe Sisulu, the housing minister, has described as shocking the persisting capacity problems the municipalities are facing in housing delivery. She has called on municipalities, provinces and national government to prioritise land for housing development before selling it.

Sisulu says municipalities are struggling to provide shelter to the homeless. The reason for calling the meeting urgently was prompted by a presentation from a SALGA representative.

"It showed us that averagely per municipality, there are only two people dealing with housing. And that is the level at which we have been dealing with housing development."

http://www.sabcnews.co.za/south_africa/social/0,2172,115422,00.html

HouseIT Build your own home

Minister of housing Lindiwe Sisulu.

The minister has again called on communities to start doing things for themselves and not to wait for the government. One example is a group of women from Phillipi near Cape Town, who have managed to build more than 80 homes in their community.

http://www.sabcnews.co.za/south_africa/social/0,2172,112911,00.html

Paraplegic dies in Khayelitsha blaze

A teenage paraplegic has died in a blaze that raged through more than 250 shacks in Khayelitsha this week and left more than a thousand people without homes. Full Story....

Blaze ... Khayelitsha residents try to save their belongings. Photo: Oliver Hermanus

Fires Rage

Fires ravaged large parts of the Western, Southern and Eastern Cape an epileptic youth, Tshepo Mapena, 18, died in a runaway shack fire in Khayelitsha, the third person in four days to perish in an informal settlement blaze.[Full Story...]

Solar Energy - Sustainable Development

R30m energy upgrade project for Khayelitsha - A new sustainable development project will give more than 2 000 households in Khayelitsha's townships insulated ceilings, solar water heaters and energy-efficient lighting. Full Story....

Cape shacks a disaster waiting to happen

A series of fires in Cape Town's informal settlements has highlighted the growing housing problem in the province as the homeless desperately risk their safety for a makeshift roof over their heads. Full Story.... 2005-11-01 12:09:18

Housing delivery HSRC report

Pretoria - Unemployment-induced poverty was causing many government housing beneficiaries to move back into shacks, a Human Sciences Research Council report revealed on Tuesday
.
"Unemployment is undermining South Africa's housing delivery strategy," researcher Catherine Cross said in Pretoria.

"Serviced housing alone is not going to be enough to overcome poverty," she said. "There will have to be jobs. It is becoming more and more difficult for people to stay in the houses they've got." News24

City No Planning

Exodus of city planners 'could be devastating for growth'The mass exodus of at least 17 senior officials from the city council's planning department could have a devastating effect on investment and economic growth in the Western Cape.

70 Failure's - Not a good start

Didiza to address Limpopo farming project crisis Thoko Didiza, the land affairs minister, will today address a shock finding that most of the 70 farms, bought by the Limpopo government for R100 million under a Land Acquisition Grant Programme, have collapsed.

I hope the land affaris minister, realises that further land grabs have the potential of following the previous 70 farms failure.

Housing Indaba

Municipalities 'not equipped' for housing delivery Municipalities have neither the capacity nor the mandate to deliver housing, Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu said on Monday. "Together with my colleagues ... we realised that municipalities have not been given a clear mandate for housing delivery," she said in a speech prepared for delivery at the National Municipal Housing Indaba.

District six squatters made to move again

District Six squatters are being moved for the second time in less than three weeks - this time to some open land in Delft. Full Story....

Housing Crisis - SA

Govt struggling to cope with housing demand - Minister Lindiwe Sisulu
Business Day, South Africa - Oct 14, 2005

Sisulu appealed to the private sector and construction companies to help the government solve the housing crisis. M&G

"We are putting together a housing code so that we can apply a uniform standard and are going to have a 'living-worthy certificate'.

She rejected the idea of turning dagga plants into bricks as a cheaper alternative to building materials. "It's a very cooling method of building a house [& thus energy efficient], but not what we advocate."

We see the benefit in advocating a lesser city footprint on the planet and building green, carbon efficient, fire, water proof - home at a third the price a logical step in human habitat development. As is demonstrated in World Urban Forums, and HERE

Fair trade is more important for Africa than aid

Fair trade is more important for Africa than aid By Manoah Esipisu Johannesburg - Securing a deal to free world trade in agriculture was more important to lifting Africa out of poverty than efforts to boost aid, a British government minister and Lesotho's trade minister have said. (photo: USAID file/M. McGahuey)
Business Report

Good Morning Cape Town

Cape squatters refuse to move

[ South Africa ] Backyard shack dwellers have vowed to stay on land they invaded in Valhalla Park, despite warnings from the City of Cape Town that they should vacate the area to "prevent problems". Full Story...

While top officials take the money and run... & who is doing the job now? This city planning thing, you know that thing that takes years to plan and implement...? This is the 4th time this has happened in as many years... is this sustainable?

No! we're never gonna survive unless, we get a little crazy.

Cape's top officials set city back R43m 2005-10-27 14:45:35Nearly R45-million on voluntary settlement packages - that's how much the City of Cape Town has spent on 92 of its top officials up until the end of September. Full Story....

Cluster Clusty

Clusty

Cape Town to host Homeless World Cup

2005-10-27 07:52:12More than 4 500 homeless soccer players are expected to try out for teams participating in the annual Homeless Soccer World Cup, which be held in Cape Town in 2006. Full Story....

While wards still argue about delivery...

ANC ward meeting turns ugly 2005-10-27 11:32:18ANC members in Khayelitsha have stormed out of a ward meeting, smashing windows and barricading a gate, after allegations that party provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha had rigged votes. Full Story....

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=2934&art_id=vn20050927115700947C886800

My Question is - if there are no ward councillors... who is the political voice and what Authority do they have?

That's Beautiful and homely

HOUSE IT!

Cape Town

M&G

http://www.mg.co.za/articleList.aspx?area=landhousing

Mamma says look - a solution

Govt struggling to cope with housing demand - Minister Lindiwe Sisulu Business Day, South Africa - Oct 14, 2005

Sisulu appealed to the private sector and construction companies to help the government solve the housing crisis.

Rapid urbanisation 'a serious problem'

...Sisulu could not say how much of the government's housing money is lost to corruption...

She rejected the idea of turning dagga plants into bricks as a cheaper alternative to building materials. "It's a very cooling method of building a house, but not what we advocate." -- SAPA

Read M&G article